| Pryor's Place | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Children's television series Comedy |
| Created by |
|
| Starring | Richard Pryor |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 15 – December 8, 1984 |
Pryor's Place is an American children's television series that aired for one season in 1984 on CBS. The live-action series starred comedian Richard Pryor. [1]
Despite a reputation for profanity from Richard Pryor, Pryor's Place was aimed at children. Like Sesame Street , Pryor's Place featured a cast of puppets hanging out and having fun in a friendly inner-city environment, along with several children and characters portrayed by Pryor himself.
The theme song was performed by Ray Parker Jr. [2] of Ghostbusters fame, who also appeared in the show's opening credits. The show was also fitted with a laugh track.
Pryor's Place was broadcast on Saturdays on CBS (at 11:30 AM Eastern/10:30 AM Central) from September 15 to December 8, 1984, with repeats airing until June 15, 1985. [3] It was replaced with reruns of another Krofft show, Land of the Lost . Four VHS videotapes of the show were released between September 1997 and June 1998 by Rhino Entertainment, each containing one episode of the series.[ citation needed ]
| No. | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "High Noon at 5:30 P.M." | September 15, 1984 | |
Main character Richie (ostensibly Pryor as a child) is challenged to an afterschool showdown by Meatrack, the neighborhood bully. | |||
| 2 | "To Catch a Little Thief" | September 22, 1984 | |
In the series pilot, Richie shoplifts a basketball to join a street gang...but the gang instead leaves him at the mercy of an angry pawnshop-owner and the police. | |||
| 3 | "Love Means Never Being Sorry You Didn't Say It" | September 29, 1984 | |
Richie’s painful first romance with a classmate. | |||
| 4 | "Voyage to the Planet of the Dumb" | October 6, 1984 | |
Richie and three ambitious peers ditch school to meet with Joe, a shady talent agent who also happens to own the local video arcade...and who teaches these four young dropouts the value of education, by magically transporting them to a distant planet whose very atmosphere saps points from its denizens' IQs. | |||
| 5 | "Close Encounters of…" | October 13, 1984 | |
Richie tries to get a fuzzy alien home. | |||
| 6 | "Sax Education" | October 20, 1984 | |
After misplacing a saxophone which a friend left in his care, Richie must raise $300 to buy a replacement. He and Wally hold a garage sale, which soon turns into a counterfeit-autograph operation. However, when Wally proves to be hardly the world's greatest name-speller (as that baseball signed by "Ron Sey" will verify), the boys' scheme collapses around their ears faster than Richie can say "Lee Israel". | |||
| 7 | "Readers of the Lost Art" | October 27, 1984 | |
Richie and Wally think reading is uncool. | |||
| 8 | "Divorce Children’s Style" | November 3, 1984 | |
Divorce sometimes happens, but what does it do to the kids involved? | |||
| 9 | "The Kimosabe Blues" | November 10, 1984 | |
A feud between Richie and Wally threatens not only their friendship but also their grade on a joint school project. | |||
| 10 | "The Showoff" | November 17, 1984 | |
Richie is terrified to perform in front of his first audience. | |||
| 11 | "Cousin Rita" | November 24, 1984 | |
Wally gets a crush on Richie's teenage cousin. | |||
| 12 | "Home Free" | December 1, 1984 | |
Amanda reveals a traumatic incident from her past to Richie. | |||
| 13 | "Too Old Too Soon, Too Smart Too Late" | December 8, 1984 | |
Richie's mother insists that he spend a whole day with his Uncle Mose...although, being Richie, he would much rather attend a local public appearance by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. | |||
